Kerala is South India’s most serene state with nearly 550 km of Arabian Sea coast and beaches. I always wanted to drive along the coastal Kerala and experience the change in landscape and culture. We started our journey with no specific plan, only thing in mind was coastal Kerala.
Our first stop was Fort Kochi, simply loved the place. It’s a charming seaside area well known for Dutch, Portuguese and British colonial architecture. We rented a bicycle and explored the places near by. Went to different museums which portrays Kerala’s history and about colonialism that happened. Some interesting events like international photography exhibition, mind mapping programs, few exhibiting state’s culture like Kathakali and many more were happening around the Jewish town. I got a feel of Georgetown, Penang while walking around Fort Kochi.
In Fort Kochi the evenings are very lively. We went to a restaurant right next to the ocean, they served lot of sea food delicacies. Then moved to a seesha cafe and to a Karoke place. Thanks to this Karoke place we were able to spend an enjoyable evening. Amazing crowd and even the owner of that place joined in to sing some songs.
Next morning after having some authentic Kerala breakfast, we started our journey towards Varkala on the coastal road via Alappuzha. Our drive was on the coastal side and not through highway. The route was through villages, backwaters and beaches, so we needed sell out more time by not taking the highway but it was worth a decision.
We could see lot of fishermen fishing with Chinese fishing nets. These Chinese fishing nets are stationary nets. This way of fishing is unusual in India and almost unique to the area, as it was introduced by Chinese explorers who landed there in the 14th century. In the evenings they switch on the light on top of the nets, so when the light goes near the water it attracts more shrimps and fishes. This was definitely a route to be explored, it had fishing villages, markets, backwaters and beaches.
Wherever possible we stopped by to have a feel of local life. For most of the time, we drove right next to the ocean. And passing though lush green fields lined with coconut trees on one side and backwaters and beaches on the other, with gentle breeze all through out made our journey a memorable experience.
We reached varkala by late afternoon. Varkala has a naturally beautiful setting that made it one of the most popular place among the backpackers. It has a delightful blend of history, culture and natural sites of attraction. Varkala cliff is one place to spend lot of the time just admiring it’s beauty. Cliff has lot of cafes and wide varieties of cuisines to choose from. What surprised us the most was, there were few Vegan only cafes!!
Best part about the cliff is most of the restaurants are ocean facing. One can leisurely have food at these joints through out the day with beautiful views of the ocean. During evenings and early mornings there are lot of activities on could indulge in, like surfing lessons, yoga, Ayurvedic treatments and lot more. Once the sun goes down, Varkala lights up with music and many other activities. For dinner we went to a fine dine restaurant and got seated high up to get a 180 degree view of the ocean.
Following day we met with few travelers and together we explored around Varkala. We went to a temple, markets, some famous beaches and drove mostly near the coastal side and then in the evening we spent time walking from one end of the cliff to other. It was definitely a scenic walk. The sunset on the varkala beach was blissful.
After spending some good time in Varkala it was time to move on, again we took the same coastal route towards Trivandrum and then moved into the Tamil nadu region with an overnight stop at Madurai, there by ending a fun fulfilled drive on the coastal roads of Kerala.
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